Hello everybody! New guy here. Almost completely deaf - I'm profound with only 10% hearing in one ear.
I'm here because I'm interested in meeting some people and making some friends.
But a little background: I don't really have much exposure to the Deaf community, mainly because as a child, I just found I didn't have too much in common with Deaf people. I tended to associate more with the hearing world. I learned Signing Exact English early on as a child, and I learned to read and write English very skillfully. I hung out with hearing people, chatted with them, played sports with them, and all the works. Of course, I can read and sign ASL; I had Deaf friends, but we just sort of... drifted apart.
But now that I'm older, I realized I'm missing out on something. As nice as it is being able to slip in and out of the hearing world (because let's face it, the world is dominated by the hearing), I realize that I've been missing out on some good socialization. So many hearing people don't know how to approach me, and vice versa. It's just... awkward, especially when you mostly rely on using a notepad to communicate with the hearing who don't know how to sign. Sometimes, it can be a little sad, because I wish I could just go up to somebody and meet 'em and have a nice little chat.
I have a few friends who DO sign, who I pretty much taught all the sign language they know (and they're pretty good at it), but really... this isn't enough. I'm out of college and now in the working world, which means that practically all my friends who I worked so hard to make and keep are now off doing their own things, just as I am.
So, yeah. I'm hoping to make some friends (Deaf, HOH, and hearing, it doesn't matter to me) and maybe help some people with their ASL (especially the cute ladies... :roll
.
I'm here because I'm interested in meeting some people and making some friends.
But a little background: I don't really have much exposure to the Deaf community, mainly because as a child, I just found I didn't have too much in common with Deaf people. I tended to associate more with the hearing world. I learned Signing Exact English early on as a child, and I learned to read and write English very skillfully. I hung out with hearing people, chatted with them, played sports with them, and all the works. Of course, I can read and sign ASL; I had Deaf friends, but we just sort of... drifted apart.
But now that I'm older, I realized I'm missing out on something. As nice as it is being able to slip in and out of the hearing world (because let's face it, the world is dominated by the hearing), I realize that I've been missing out on some good socialization. So many hearing people don't know how to approach me, and vice versa. It's just... awkward, especially when you mostly rely on using a notepad to communicate with the hearing who don't know how to sign. Sometimes, it can be a little sad, because I wish I could just go up to somebody and meet 'em and have a nice little chat.
I have a few friends who DO sign, who I pretty much taught all the sign language they know (and they're pretty good at it), but really... this isn't enough. I'm out of college and now in the working world, which means that practically all my friends who I worked so hard to make and keep are now off doing their own things, just as I am.
So, yeah. I'm hoping to make some friends (Deaf, HOH, and hearing, it doesn't matter to me) and maybe help some people with their ASL (especially the cute ladies... :roll
.